UT’s New Norris House Wins National Architecture Award

KNOXVILLE — The prize-winning New Norris House, a sustainable home and landscape designed by an interdisciplinary team at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has garnered another national award.

The student-led project has won a 2011 NCARB Prize Program for Creative Integration of Practice and Education in the Academy. NCARB (the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards) is the main architectural licensing body in the United States.

“The New Norris House uniquely brings together industry, professional, community and university partners to share and develop knowledge,” said Tricia Stuth, project manager and an associate professor of architecture. “The project is only possible because of the dedication and talent of the students and the shared knowledge of collaborators. This project teaches students a way to organize and collaborate to impel change in unsustainable consumer, industrial, professional and political practices.”

The New Norris House was chosen from among 45 other projects in what the NCARB jury called one of the most impressive and largest groups of submissions in recent years.

The New Norris House is a 21st century take on the original homes built in the community of Norris, Tenn., as part of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Norris Dam Project in 1933. The town was designed as a model community and was revolutionary for its time. The original Norris House was a series of innovative, affordable homes designed to address new technologies, materials and construction methods.

The New Norris House was designed in similar spirit as an affordable, efficient and sustainable structure that incorporates new technologies and meets today’s needs. The model home and landscape, now under construction on Oak Road in Norris, is expected to open to visitors this summer for demonstration of its sustainable technologies. Teams from the UT College of Architecture and Design are currently working on completion of the siding and interiors, as well as sustainable water and landscape elements.

Once completed, the New Norris House will seek LEED platinum certification from the United States Green Building Council, making it the fifth LEED platinum home in Tennessee. The LEED for homes program promotes the design and construction of high-performance green homes and certifies that green design parameters are met.

The team has presented the project to several groups and will present as part of the EPA P3 Sustainable Design Exhibition on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., April 15-17.

The project received a check for $7,500. NCARB also will feature the New Norris House in its annual NCARB Prize publication.